Poker: What Are Implied Odds?

Implied odds are the bets you can win if you obtain the right hand. Put another way, implied odds is the ratio between the amount you expect to win when you make your hand against the amount it will cost to continue playing.

People usually think that they have so much money in the pot. This is not true, whatever amount of money that you put in the pot is not yours unless you win the bet. However, it was your money before you placed it in the pot. Money placed in the pot is not used to compute pot odds.

Implied odds take into consideration the money in the pot and the amount of the bet. Implied odds also considers the chance of collecting other bets when you hit your hand. Be careful how you use your implied odds in close situations. Please don’t assume bets that you are uncertain of.

A key factor is knowing the tendencies of your opponent. Some poker hands offer better implied odds than others. In situations where your opponent can figure out what you are probably holding are generally very bad for your implied odds, since your opponent is not going to pay you very much, unless there are other factors impacting his decision, like his tendency to overall with the hand he likes, or from previous losses.